Right Thing
by Nessa2003
Summary: Post "Critical Condition" - Short piece of MacHarm fluff


"Right Thing" (1/1)  
  
Author: Nessa (nc_JAG_girl@yahoo.com)  
  
Rating: G  
  
Classification: Story, Harm/Mac, Romance  
  
Spoilers: Everything, including "Tangled Webb", is game! :)  
  
Disclaimer: Believe it or not, these guys are not mine...this is me making no money...  
  
Feedback: If you have nothing nice to say...yada, yada, yada...   
  
Summary: Post "Critical Condition" - Short piece of Mac/Harm fluff  
  
Author's Notes: This is for the love of a friend...  
  
Lastly, I give a special "Thank You" to Aero Girl who talked me into posting this back in October of 2002. Unfortunately, I was too nervous to do so. Better late than never, I suppose!   
  
~~~~~~  
  
It's an incredible sensation...  
  
To have someone look at you in such a way that you know they can see into your soul...  
  
To feel another person's breath caress your lips...  
  
To feel those lips as they are about to kiss your own...  
  
And to walk away before they even get the chance...  
  
Because it's the right thing to do...  
  
~~~~~~  
  
Mac waited until Harm's SUV left the parking lot before she took off for a brisk walk. She had too much positive, nervous energy to blow off. She always felt this way after a run in with Harm...positive or negative.  
  
This time was different.  
  
This time he had tried to kiss her. Something he hadn't done since the night of her engagement party.  
  
As she increased the pace of her walk, the memory of his lips *that* close stopped her in her tracks.  
  
Who did he think he was? He'd push her away and reach for her in the same second. Tell her he wasn't ready for where it was obvious they were headed. And then try to kiss her?  
  
"This is insane!"  
  
Her outburst drew the attention of a passer-by. She blushed, although the darkness hid the crimson of her cheeks. She took off running again, trying to check the feeling that they were a train wreck waiting to happen.  
  
She ran all the way back to her apartment and thought hard about a warm bath. Her reverie was broken by the telephone.  
  
She knew it was him.  
  
"Harm-"   
  
"Mac, wait. Please let me explain."  
  
"I'm listening..." She tapped her toe in a feeble attempt at impatience. Truth is, she had expected his call, this conversation.  
  
"Mac, I know the last couple of months have been rough...for both of us. You suggested we start from the beginning and I guess that's what I'm trying to do."  
  
"I just wish you would have informed me of your intent to change our 'designator,' Harm."  
  
"Mac, I've been trying. But I get the sense that this is not what you want right now."  
  
"What do you call trying, Harm? I don't consider you coming over here to confuse me as 'trying'. Harm, I have always needed more than you were willing to offer. You know that. What's changed?"  
  
He was hurt by her words. He knew that their friendship had not come easily. They'd been through a lot in the last few years, and he finally felt ready to be with her.  
  
"Everything, Mac. This war, our lives, Bud..." Harm's voice trailed off in defeat.  
  
"Harm, tell me what you feel."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Harm, tell *me* how you feel...about Bud...me..."  
  
Suddenly she heard a knock at her door.  
  
"Hold on Harm, someone's here..."  
  
Mac opened the door to find him standing there, cell phone to ear, looking as if he was about to his best friend.  
  
"I couldn't do this over the phone, Mac."  
  
She stepped aside to let him through. He removed his jacket and tossed it on a nearby chair.  
  
Silently, he took her hand and led her to the couch. He took both her hands in his and spoke in a voice barely above a whisper.  
  
"Mac, when I saw Bud in that hospital bed...knowing what had happened to him...all I   
  
could think about was getting him home to Harriett. All I could think about was how much that man had to come home to. The man's got a brand new home filled with his wife and his son and his friends.  
  
I don't have that, Mac. When I had my crash, I had my mom and my grandma, but no family of my own. I didn't have anyone to share my nightmares, no one to go to when I wasn't strong enough to eat or get out of bed. I'm not saying my family wasn't supportive, but they weren't Harriett and AJ. They weren't my future as a father and a husband.  
  
When I met you, Sarah Mackenzie, I knew I had met my future. The admiral may have introduced us, but Fate had already arranged the meeting."  
  
Mac's eyes stung with unshed tears. "Harm, was it me you saw or Diane?"  
  
"At first, it was Diane, but that was only surface appearance. Mac, I didn't fall in love with you because of Diane...I fell in love-"  
  
"Wait, you what?"  
  
"Sarah, I fell in love with you because you weren't Diane. I fell in love with you because you're one of the strongest people I know. I fell in love with you because you're my best friend and the only person I can ever imagine sharing my dreams and my nightmares with. When I look at you, I see everything that Bud has, and I want it all...with you."  
  
She sat back, stunned into silence. She got up and walked to the window looking out over the city's skyline. "Harm, do you have any idea what you're talking about?" The question was so honest, filled with hope and fear and even a tinge of what might be happiness.  
  
"I think so." He joined her at the window and hesitantly wrapped his arms around her waist. When she didn't pull away, he continued. "I've been practicing all week."  
  
She playfully slapped his upper arm and turned to face him.  
  
"Harm, are you sure this is what you want? I can't keep playing this game with you. I need to know that you're not going to change your mind again next week."  
  
"Mac, I'm here as long as you'll have me."  
  
"Harm, it took real courage to tell me everything you just told me. I don't remember a time when I didn't love you, but I'm not sure when that love became so challenging."  
  
He frowned. She laughed.  
  
"I mean that in a good way...you've jumbled my world and somehow managed to put the pieces back in a better order than when you found them. And I do love you for it. You truly are my best friend, Harm."  
  
Slowly, he leaned in to kiss her, and this time she didn't walk away.  
  
Because it was the right thing to do...  
  
End  
  
~~~~  
  
Started September 7, 2002  
  
Ended March 26, 2003 


End file.
